Comparing the Results of RWEQ and IRIFR Models for Determining of Land Management Effects on Wind Erosion

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 PhD. student, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

If the wind speed got faster than soil erosion threshold and soil surface with plants, residuals and surface roughness are protected, then the process will lead to wind erosion. The necessity of estimation of erosion in soil protection planning is important issue and there are different methods for estimation of erosion which have presented in current study. The rate of erosion and sedimentation of different work units (salty pan land, puffy land, arable and reforested saxual and eroded marls) were analyzed via IRIFR and RWEQ. Comparing of the results of two models showed that the general trend of erosion on studied faces was nearly the same (i.e. it was maximum in salty pan land faces while minimum in wheat farm lands) but numeral values of wind erosion in RWED model in some faces were less than the results of IRIFR and in others were higher. This different is mainly due to the technological variation in wind erosion calculation by the models. Based on RWEQ model, the average range of wind erosion in whole area was 15.7ton/ha/Y (class II-III). Assessments of different landscapes via IRIFR model showed that except saxual faces, lack of vegetation was the most effective reason on wind erosion of the landscapes. Also, the results showed that in case of shortage of data, especially for wind data in Iran, using of RWED model in order to assess the quantity of wind erosion and annual and monthly monitoring will be suitable.

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